A woman whose painful condition makes her look pregnant shared the heartbreaking secret it’s also left her infertile.

Heather Morrison, from Croxteth , suffers with a debilitating condition known as endometriosis - thought to effect around 10% of women - which sometimes leaves her in such pain that she cannot move.

The 24-year-old, who has always dreamed of having children, has a daily battle with a number of side effects - including flare-ups which leave her so bloated strangers often ask if she’s pregnant.

During a flare-up, her stomach swells up so badly she has to have a completely separate wardrobe of clothes that she can fit into, and the pain becomes so bad she is sometimes left bedridden.

The condition is often left undiagnosed as the symptoms can be mistaken as extreme period pains - but after Heather’s mother witnessed her black out from the pain, doctors eventually reached a diagnosis and said it would make her unable to conceive without expensive IVF treatment.

But for Heather and her long-term boyfriend Gerard, who already has a child from another relationship, the most heartbreaking of all of the symptoms is that it’s left them unable to have a biological child of their own.

Taken just three days apart - these shocking pictures show how Heather's stomach swells so much strangers ask her "when are you due?"

Heather said: “I can’t have a child naturally, but my bloating gets so bad that I get mistaken as pregnant by strangers who don’t know the struggles I’m having.

“One time a lady on the bus asked if she could touch my bump and asked if I was due. It was heartbreaking but they don’t mean to cause offence, they mean well.

“I have to explain that I’m not pregnant and then they feel really awkward about it. It’s absolutely heartbreaking because it’s just a reminder of the struggles me and Gerard are facing.”

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As Gerard already has another child, four-year-old Gerard Jr, the expensive treatment is not available on the NHS.

Heather said: “Gerard has a four-year-old son so we’re already a family, but I have always wanted children and I want the whole experience.

"We’ve explained the Gerard in a way he can understand by telling him I also want to be a ‘tummy mummy’ - which is just our way of explaining it to him really.

“Because we already have Gerard Jr, we won’t be considered for IVF on the NHS.”

Heather, 24, has a painful condition which sometimes leaves her so bloated it's mistaken for a pregnancy - despite the fact it leaves her infertile

After deciding to try for a baby two years ago, doctors warned the couple that her condition - where the lining of the uterus grows on the outside rather than the inside - would make it almost impossible to conceive naturally.

Determined to have a child together, Heather and Gerard decided to pay for private IVF at a clinic in Poland - selling their most prized possessions on eBay to raise the £4,500 fee.

Despite the sacrifices they made to raise the money - including selling some of their clothes, furniture and giving up nights out - the treatment was unsuccessful after two fertilised eggs did not result in a pregnancy.